


The Divine Deucalion of Aether (Working Title)

by BryanCroiDragon



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:35:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29323314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BryanCroiDragon/pseuds/BryanCroiDragon
Summary: Work-in progress high fantasy story set in a world taking inspiration from the civilizations that existed from 500,000 BCE to 1697 CE, with there being some exceptions. Our protagonist Falco, is the prince of Aether and son of the Divine Deucalion, who must face the would-be usurper Taurus, High Priest of the Bull God.Initial Title: "The Last Days of Aether"





	1. The Royal Family of Aether and the Villain of Our Tale

Menes, the Commoner who had become the Divine Deucalion of Aether, had no children and no living relatives. To prevent a succession crisis, he named Conall, his highly competent prime minister who had a son and grandchildren, his successor. Thus, when Menes passed on to the next life, a noble military family of great status descended from redheaded and ruddy-skinned immigrants, became the royal family of a small volcanic island kingdom.

Conall, five and fifty twelvemonths old at the time of his ascension, had been Menes' lieutenant during their days as soldiers, during which Menes had been general. When Menes ascended to the throne upon the passing of his predecessor, all the officers under Menes' command had been appointed the leadership of a priesthood with Conall becoming the High Priest of the Donkey God, patron deity of foreigners. He had married a woman named Elizabeth and fathered a son: Tigris. Tigris had married a woman named Oda and fathered a daughter named Eithne and a son named Falco, the hero of our tale. Conall ruled for two twelvemonths, dying at the age of seven and fifty, after which Tigris ascended the throne at the age of nine and thirty and had ruled for the past eleven twelvemonths. For one and forty twelvemonths had Aether known peace. Menes had ruled well, as had Conall and Tigris was continuing as they had, yet even then there was someone attempting to undermine the House of Conall.

Taurus, High Priest of the Bull God, had long abominated the House of Conall and that hatred stemmed from the fact that they were descended from immigrants and had risen higher than a family descended from the native populace. His own hatred for immigrants and indeed anyone of foreign background stemmed from the treatment Taurus had received from his own father and predecessor. Taurus had been born so hideous that his father, an incredibly vain man who believed that Aethereans of the native populace were the most beautiful and moral in all the world, refused to recognize Taurus as his son and treated him poorly, as well as publicly accusing his wife of infidelity with a foreigner. The previous High Priest of the Bull God, Aether's patron deity, had long since passed on with the official story being leprosy caused by him having beheaded the statue of the Sun God in a fit of rage. According to the whispers among the populace however, Taurus had slain his own father in secret and now that he had risen to the position of High Priest of the Bull God, it was said the Taurus had his sights set on an even higher position: he desired to become the Divine Deucalion of Aether. He desired to become a God-King and what a God-King he would have been. There was none whom abominated more venomously that Taurus, for he abominated the earth and his lord and master, the Divine Deucalion. He would have been mean and fell, playing his subjects for amusement, afflicting them with dolor and besieging them with terrors.

For thirteen twelvemonths, Taurus had waited for his opportunity to usurp the throne and now, it seemed as if his patience had paid off. Tigris was ailing, problems with his thorax and abdomen that were either carcinoma or something to do with his heart, and Falco was absent from Aether on a diplomatic mission to a different island nation. A successful usurpation was assured. All Taurus had to do was wait for Tigris to expire then he could seize power. He already had the backing of Eithne, a woman whose facade was one of untrustworthiness and looseness, and her idiot bridegroom Columba, both wanting to save their own lives with the former wanting Taurus to make her his queen. Taurus already had a queen in mind however: Alfred's youngest girl Rowena. He may have slain her bridegroom and her paterfamilias but, to Taurus' thinking, the readiest approach to make the wench amends was to become her bridegroom and her paterfamilias. He could always poison Eithne after the marriage.


	2. The Crown Prince and his Mentor

Falco was sixteen twelvemonths of age. His ruddy skin was unscarred, his red hair short and curly and his eyes mismatched with the left blue and the right green. He was lean and hungry in appearance and stood at a height of five feet and five inches with a square jaw and hooked nose, both inherited from his father Tigris. He was humbly dressed, wearing only a red loincloth, meaning he could be mistaken for something other than a prince.

Sitting upon the trireme headed back to Aether from Tethys, Falco stroked his caracal Kenneth. As a caracal, Kenneth was a medium-sized cat with a robust build, long legs, a short face, long black tufted ears and long canine teeth. His coat was uniformly reddish-tan and as a male he stood at twenty inches at the shoulder, was three and forty inches in head and body length and his bushy tail was thirteen inches long. He was a twelvemonth old and had been born among one of the many caracals who were trained for hunting game birds.

As the two sat before the mast, the shadow of Falco's mentor Achilles soon fell upon them both. He belonged to Aether's native populace and as such had olive skin, wavy white hair that had been black in his youth, high cheekbones and almond-shaped blue eyes. He was sixty twelvemonths old, stood at a height of five feet and eight and a half inches and was as lean as Falco was. Save for a horizontal scar over his right eye, he would have been rather non-descript, for he could have easily vanished into a crowd if not for that scar of his. Like his student, he was humbly dressed, wearing a blue tunic. Achilles had been many things: soldier, philosopher, statesman and magic-user and so it was that he had been selected to be the mentor of the Crown Prince of Aether.

"What is on your mind, my student?" inquired Achilles, his voice deep and smooth. "Could it be your father's well-being in our absence? Your father is a great warrior and a great magician and he has Aedan by his side. There is no need to worry about him, Falco."

"I have every reason to fear for my father, Achilles." Replied Falco, his voice rich and smooth. As he stroked Kenneth, his features took on a brooding look as he uttered: "Taurus is growing bolder. He slew Rowena's father and bridegroom a few days before we left. I am as worried about Rowena as I am about my father."

Falco and Rowena had been besotted with one another ever since they were eleven twelvemonths old. They had grown up together, the children of noble families descended from immigrants and eventually friendship had begun to turn into adoration. Rowena had grown to become the comeliest gentlewoman in the palace, something that Falco did not care one bit about. He had loved her before then, yet still rival suitors did exist and with Rowena's family being affluent and socially prominent with palace connections going back to the beginning of the previous dynasty one and seventy and two hundred twelvemonths prior, every social climber in the palace was after her hand in marriage. One such social climber had taken advantage of her father Alfred's overconfidence and love of gambling to win her hand in marriage and so Rowena had a bridegroom, Hannibal by appellation. Both Alfred and Hannibal made the mistake of not mistaking Taurus to the wedding, leading to their deaths before Hannibal and Rowena had been declared man and wife. Rowena had no love for Hannibal, yet she had loved her father and so she both feared and hated the High Priest of the Bull God.

"Taurus must be on trial if not executed, Falco." Scoffed Achilles, now taking a seat upon the deck of the ship.

"I doubt it." Falco replied, scratching his chin. "The Priesthood of the Bull God has been amassing power for a long time. Their high priest might as well be another Deucalion."


	3. The Usurper

When the trireme returned to Aether, Falco and Kenneth both raced for the palace. They were home at last and wanted to see everyone they had left behind! Through the Crown Prince's mind images of his father and mother and sister and brother-in-law raced through his head, but the most constant image was Rowena's countenance.

Upon reaching that five-story tall red-columned maze of a palace that served as Aether's capital as well, Falco stopped and looked down at Kenneth. The caracal stared up at him and Falco gave a smile before entering the palace and began to navigate the passageways to reach the throne room, Kenneth following close behind. It was easy enough for them to navigate, yet when the reached the throne room they found it to be filled with people, while someone other than Tigris sat upon the throne.

The throne room was a large room with thirty-five steps that lead to the alabaster throne, more a glorified stool than anything else that was placed before a statue of the Bull God: a deity that had the torso of a man yet the head and the lower body and legs of a bull. The bull portions, save for the silver horns and obsidian eyes, were made of lapis lazuli while the man's torso was made of gold. All deities had flesh of gold, hair of lapis lazuli and bone of silver, so naturally their statues would make use of the materials. To the sides of the steps were statues of a past Divine Deucalion, both in a sitting position with their hands on their knees. As tradition dictated, the statues portrayed the Divine Deucalion as idealized, being young and athletic. What would have been flesh was gold and the hair of the statues were made of lapis lazuli, for as the Divine Deucalion was a god on earth, they would be portrayed as gods were with flesh of gold and hair of lapis lazuli.

Sitting upon the throne was Taurus, High Priest of the Bull God. He was two and thirty twelvemonths of age and stood at a height of five feet and eight inches. He was as beefy as a bullock and thick-necked and legged, with the latter even being short. His hands were hairy and his body smelled of a heavy, sickening musk. His attire consisted of a grey tunic that went down to his ankles, a red cloak that hung from his left shoulder, a bronze arm ring on his left arm, bronze bracelets, bronze sandals and a golden amulet in the likeness of a bull's head with ruby eyes and alabaster horns hanging from a thong of bull hide about his neck. As he was the High Priest of the Bull God, Taurus wore a bull skull upon his head as a mask with the other badge of his office being a double-bladed axe that required the use of both hands and was currently taking the place of a scepter.

At the right of the throne room stood Falco's sister Eithne and her husband Columba, neither looking very concerned with the current situation. They were both of the same ethnic group with ruddy skin and red hair, both being green-eyed.

Eithne stood at a height of five feet and four and half inches, making her just shorter than her younger brother, and was two decades old. Her body was pear-shaped and she had an aquiline nose. She was considered comely and she kept her long, curly red hair down rather than adopt any other hairstyle. Her attire consisted of a black dress that had a single strap on her right shoulder, a golden arm ring with a cobra motif on her right arm, a golden necklace with a scarab motif, a golden bracelet on her right wrist, a golden ring on the middle finger of her right hand and black sandals.

Eithne, despite her lack of interest in learning how to be a good ruler in contrast to her brother, knew what happened to royal family's when usurpations occurred and had seen Taurus as a more fitting candidate for a husband than the one that she had. Eithne wanted to be queen and with her father having refused to name her his coruler, due to her lack of interest in learning how to be a good ruler, she was forced to look elsewhere. When her father had grown ill, she saw Taurus' usurpation coming and so she and her worthless idiot of a husband Columba went to the High Priest of the Bull God to give him their support, with her privately having made a proposal of marriage to Taurus. Taurus had told the Princess of Aether that he would consider it, to which Eithne had replied: "Marry me and you will legitimize yourself as the Divine Deucalion!" Taurus still said he would consider it, to which Eithne had said "I'll be sure to poison my husband's mushrooms if you accept my proposal. He does love them so!" in the most nonchalant way possible.

Columba, Eithne's husband, was a decade older than his wife. He was a paunchy individual in a white robe who stood at a height of five feet and nine inches and a quarter and preferred to lounge around with his wife by a pond. He was not a man of particular note, at least not to Falco, Taurus or even Eithne, but even then, Tigris struggled to find a job for Columba. Unable to be Falco's mentor, Columba had found himself tossed from one position to another and was currently between positions, hoping for some stability when it came to a career under Taurus, although given Taurus' views which included a belief that race was dictated by the father, Columba would most likely not last long as the High Priest of the Bull God would see men who were not of Aether's native populace of less use than the women who were not.

Immediately a feeling of dread washed over Falco. Where was his father? Where was his mother? Where was Aedan, his father's golden tiger? Where was his friend Frumentius? Where was the exiled prince Alboin and his sister Scholastica? Where was Hu, the ambassador from the Ulgen Khanate?

Where was Rowena?

Staring down from the throne, Taurus uttered: "Well, well, the son of the late Divine Deucalion has returned." His voice was a deep baritone.

"Taurus, what is the meaning of this? Where is my father?" Falco inquired.

"Your father Tigris stopped breathing this morning, Falco." Taurus answered, not bothering to get up and walk down to Falco. Tigris had always walked down to speak with an individual rather than addressing them from the throne and Conall and Menes had done the same. Taurus however, was not of the same cloth. "Now I am the Sun and the Moon by the will of my Twin and Shadow."

When Taurus referred to his Twin and Shadow, he referred to the Bull God. While most priests and priestesses referred to their patron deity as their parent, the High Priest of the Bull God was not such an individual. The leaders of the Priesthood of the Bull God had been referring to their deity as their Twin and Shadow for centuries, going back to the first High Priest. The reason was lost to time and he may very well have been the Bull God's twin brother and the Bull God may have appeared on the mortal plane as his twin's shadow, but there was no way to be certain. As for referring to himself as the Sun and the Moon, all monarchs were considered divine, gods on earth as it were. Humbler monarchs would refer to themselves as lesser gods and acknowledged that not every monarch would be granted divine honors after death. Taurus referring to himself as the Sun and the Moon, was neither humble nor arrogant. It was merely one of the euphemisms used to refer to a monarch.

From where Falco stood, he could hear Columba grumble: "By the will of his Twin and Shadow? By our support is more like it!" He had a distinctive sounding voice, but that was the most anyone could say about it.

This was followed by Eithne whispering: "Be silent, you fool!" Her voice was deep and seductive, something that made Falco uncomfortable. It always sounded seductive, never just deep. It made conversations with her something that Falco did not enjoy.

"What did you do to my father, Taurus?" Falco demanded, pointing a finger at the usurping High Priest. "Poison him?"

"Poison?" Taurus gave a chuckle, before answering: "How I wish I did. Pour it into his ear while he slept, sending a servant with an apple and the knife I own where only one side of the blade is poison to him, you know how your father loved fruit... Ah, there were many ways I could have gone about it, but at the end of it all, your father merely fell ill. Don't blame me for his death, blame me for usurping the throne simply because you did not return before he breathed his last."

"Y-You... You didn't poison my father?" Falco could not believe it. He had always believed that if his father were to predecease Taurus then the High Priest of the Bull God would have had something to do with it. While Tigris was Taurus' elder by seventeen twelvemonths, the possibility of the former simply expiring of natural causes while the latter still lived was something that never entered Falco's mind and why should it have? What Falco had believed had been the general consensus amongst the inhabitants of the palace. All Falco could ask was: "How did he die?"

"I don't rightly care and there are differing opinions." Taurus answered, standing up and holding his axe firmly as he proceeded to make his way down the steps. "The point is your paterfamilias is dead and soon you will be too."

Reaching the bottom step, Taurus proceeded to raise his axe. Falco took a fighting stance while Kenneth flattened his ears, narrowed his eyes and prepared to leap forward. The whole court expected a clash for the throne, with the Crown Prince and his companion being slain by the Usurper and there is a possibility that they would have, had it not been for the timely arrival of Rowena.

Rowena was the same age and an inch taller than Falco. She was slender young woman with light skin, large reddish-brown eyes and red hair that was long and straight. She was considered fairly attractive with an honest face, a cute mouth and good legs. Exaggeration that she was the comeliest gentlewoman in the palace led people to say that her mouth was the cutest and her legs the best. Her attire consisted of an amber colored breastband and a brown perizoma, a type of loincloth and she kept her hair in a ponytail with a pink ribbon.

The moment she entered the throne room, Taurus paused and lowered his axe. Falco and Kenneth both turned and that is when they saw her.

When Rowena saw Falco, what had had once been a look of relief upon her countenance transformed into an expression of unbridled joy and she exclaimed: "The Divine Deucalion lives! He who was born under the sign of the tiger still draws breath!

It did not take long for all of Taurus' supporters, save for Eithne and Columba, to go running from the throne room, fear of the punishment they would receive for supporting a usurper in their hearts. Abandoned by his priests, Taurus could do nothing but stare. What talk was this? What fools were the priests under his command? Tigris had passed on to the next life he could not be among the living!

Achilles then entered the throne room, in time to see Falco and Rowena embrace. Eithne and Columba were whispering to one another to the side while Taurus could only stare into space. Looking to the High Priest of the Bull God, the old man uttered: A failed usurpation, Taurus?"

As Falco and Rowena emerged from their embrace, Kenneth rubbing against their legs and meowing, the young gentlewoman whispered to the Crown Prince: "Your father is alive, but whatever this illness is leaves him weak. He is still in danger even with Aedan there to protect him. Come quickly, I will take you to him!"

The two departed from the throne room, Kenneth following after them while Achilles stood before Taurus. The High Priest of the Bull God was just standing there, unable to comprehend how Tigris was possibly alive. People who stopped breathing did not begin breathing again, it was just not possible. Rowena lied! She was a woman and she was descended from immigrants. When had women or immigrants ever spoken the truth?

Achilles waved a hand in front of Taurus' front. Upon finding no reaction from the Would-Be Usurper, Achilles walked past him and towards Eithne and Columba, saying: "I would call for a physician, but I think you are more use to Aether just standing there, staring into space." Upon approaching Eithne and Columba, he looked the two over, both of them still whispering, and inquired: "What are you two being so secretive about?"

"Nothing that you need to worry about, Achilles." Eithne replied with a mocking tone. "Go and see to my father."

"Do you not wish to go see him?"

Eithne's answer was a blunt "No."

"And why pray tell not?" Achilles asked, taking a moment to look over his shoulder to make sure Taurus was not sneaking up behind him. Upon seeing the High Priest only beginning to move his head, looking back and forth, Achilles felt some assurance that he was still safe for the time being.

"I have no interest in seeing the man who denied me the position of coruler." Was Eithne's answer.

"And you, Columba?" Achilles inquired. "Do you not wish to see your father-in-law?"

"N-Not particularly..." Columba confessed, looking rather sheepish as he spoke. "I bet he would not survive this illness." Columba did not need to explain any further. Achilles could remember similar bets occurring in the past, always becoming public knowledge after a couple of days, and when the Divine Deucalion was the one whose passing was being bet on, they were not typically welcoming to those who bet against their odds of surviving, especially if the person in question was a relative.

"Aye, indeed." Achilles commented, walking away from the two and up the steps to the throne. Once he reached the top of the stairs, he looked up at the statue of the Bull God and stared at the deity with critical eyes. Coldly, he uttered: "Your high priest had failed, Dweller-in-the-Volcano! There is no throne waiting for him!"

It was that moment that Taurus regained his senses.


	4. The Crimes, Heresey and Hypocrisy of Taurus

As Falco and Rowena made their way to the royal bedchamber, the latter informed the former of what Taurus had done when he had received the report that Tigris had stopped breathing. He had slain Alboin, exiled prince of Leto, and Cicero, ambassador from the Commodian Republic that had conquered Leto. While Alboin's death was mourned by his sister Scholastica and all who called him compeer, Cicero's death was not mourned. In typical Commodian fashion, Cicero had a contempt for monarchs, felt superior to the people of neighbouring states and refused to recognize a state with a monarch as legitimate. As Aether was a major trade center, the general consensus was that Cicero was truly there to spy on what happened on Aether under the guise of an ambassador. Commodian soldiers, generals and senators all believed themselves superior than any monarch and used that as a justification for the expansion of their borders.

Hu, the ambassador from the Ulgen Khanate, and Alboin's sister Scholastica had both been confined to their own chambers while Frumentius, friend of Falco and Rowena, had managed to evade Taurus' followers and had also made reports of what Taurus had been up to. He had declared the Bull God Aether's only deity and had ordered the fanes of all other deities to be turned into fanes of devoted to the Bull God, including the Fane of Deucalions Past where select monarchs were recognized as gods even after death, one of whom was Falco's paternal grandfather Conall. Taurus had called himself the intermediary between the Bull God, redundant since as the High Priest of the Bull God he was already considered that, and proclaimed that he and his consort, upon his marriage, alone could directly worship the Bull God while everyone else would worship him and his consort. For all his claims that the Bull God would be Aether's only deity, it was apparent that Taurus, typical in his hypocrisy, had every desire to be worshipped just as he worshipped his Twin and Shadow.


End file.
